This regulation specifies the clinical factors a medical director or physician must consider when determining whether electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is medically indicated for a patient residing in a state facility. Factors include predicted therapeutic effects, risk-benefit analysis, likelihood of desired outcomes, availability of less risky alternatives, community standards for ECT use, and the patient's capacity to consent. This section is part of a chapter governing conditions for use of ECT and psychosurgery in state psychiatric facilities.
View official source9515.0600 FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN DETERMINING MEDICAL INDICATIONS. In assessing whether electroconvulsive therapy is medically indicated, the medical director of the state facility where the patient resides or the patient's physician shall consider the following factors: § A. the predicted extent and duration of the therapeutic effects on mental activity and behavior patterns that the electroconvulsive therapy is expected to produce; § B. the risks of adverse side effects compared with potential benefits to the patient; § C. the likelihood that the treatment will produce the desired effects; § D. whether alternative treatments are available that produce less risk; § E. the medical community's standard for use of electroconvulsive therapy; and § F. the patient's capacity to determine whether the treatment is desirable.